spiderwort
Junior Member
@spiderwort
Posts: 2,519
Likes: 9,318
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Post by spiderwort on Nov 7, 2018 19:40:46 GMT
Of all of Carl Dreyer's films, I've only seen La Passion de Jeanne D'Arc, but in my long life of viewing films it would be in my top ten films of all time. Given that others love Ordet and Day of Wrath so much, I know I have some catching up to do. An interesting side note: Jeanne D'Arc's cinematographer Rudolph Mate later became a Hollywood B film director. Also interesting: one of its actors is Antonin Artaud, theatre actor, theorist, poet, and critic who postulated the theory of the Theatre of Cruelty.
And lest I forget, Maria Falconetti's performance as Joan is one of the most remarkable I've ever seen.
What are your thoughts on Dreyer's work?
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Post by Primemovermithrax Pejorative on Nov 7, 2018 20:03:17 GMT
I have never seen Vampyr but have known about it for ages. I assume it has no "Count Orlock" type vampire in it.
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Post by Aj_June on Nov 7, 2018 20:04:50 GMT
Even with so few movies (which he made between long intervals) great Carl Theodre Dreyer definitely cuts into my list of top 10 directors. Ordet is #3 all-time greatest movie for me. Day of Wrath is a very different (and I found it pretty difficult to interpret) film that may have a lot to do with the then existing state of Europe even if the movie is set in 17th century. It was made during Nazi occupation of Denmark. I believe the movie represented a lot of hidden messages by Dreyer which even many critics have acknowledged by often calling it ambiguous masterpiece.
Important thing to note is that Dreyer as a person was much different from most other great directors. Because he spent early childhood in orphanages and didn't have a great relationship with his adoptive parents his childhood has been described as being largely unhappy. He was a conservative and was against radical revolutions. In contrast to him his adoptive parents were leftists (mother even had an illegitimate child in that age and never set foot in church).
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Post by vegalyra on Nov 7, 2018 20:28:30 GMT
I've had Vampyr on my list of films to watch but have not done so. I hope to remedy that soon.
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spiderwort
Junior Member
@spiderwort
Posts: 2,519
Likes: 9,318
|
Post by spiderwort on Nov 7, 2018 21:07:22 GMT
I have never seen Vampyr but have known about it for ages. I assume it has no "Count Orlock" type vampire in it. No, though of course it obviously does have a vampyr in it. But it's not from Dracula; rather, it was written by Dreyer and Christen Jul based on elements from J. Sheridan Le Fanu's collection of supernatural stories "In a Glass Darkly."
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Post by Fox in the Snow on Nov 8, 2018 0:03:35 GMT
Such a singular director. His films are so beautifully spare, poetic and transcendent. His masterpiece is Ordet and like Aj_June it would make my Top 10, if not Top 5. A film like no other, it's otherworldly beauty still haunts me.
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Post by Fox in the Snow on Nov 8, 2018 0:10:09 GMT
We need someone to direct a Dreyer-esque Dreyer biopic. Bela Tarr if he was still active.
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Post by london777 on Nov 8, 2018 3:48:29 GMT
His masterpiece is Ordet and like Aj_June it would make my Top 10 ... Amen to that!
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